Coaster



Sept- 22, 1953 J. M. KEEGAN 2,652,703

COASTER Filed Oct. 22, 1949 Patented Sept. 22, 1.953

UNITED stares 'snes Jane-'M'. Keegan, Evanston, ll. Apiiiieann otfbr'tz, wiisriamo; 12238734" (of. etgss Y This inventiony relatesA to a" coaster; andmpre particularly to a coaster which keepsthe"'bt= tom`of the' glass resting thereon free'of moisture. An object of theV invention isto provide a coaster of inexpensive structure which is' effective iii-keeping rr'ioisture from collecting aboutI tl'ie bottom of the glass and dripping therefrom. Yet another object is to provide a coaster support for glasses"4 which is effective" inv rapidly removing water droplets condensing upon aj glassand Iru'nL ning down toward'the bottom of thegl'assi Yet another' object ris to provide a' coaster'equip'ped with anabserbent layerA which is eiiectively sel-Y cured within the coaster structure while-permitL ting the ready removal of the absorbent material and"its replacement with new absorbent asidesired. A still further object is to provide a strucm ture' in which an absorbent pad is'automatically crinkledin the assembly of the coasterV parts so that moisture collecting on-the bottom ofthe glass is contacted-by the absorbent and quickly d'iawninto the bod-yof thevabsorbent. Other speciiic'ob'jects and advantages willV appear as the specification proceeds.Y

The invention isiillustrated inthe speciiieeri'lf bedimena byV the' accompanying drawing, in which-Q F-gr'l isla top planview oia coaster-structure embodyingmy invention; Fig. 2'; a'view similar to Fig. 1 lbut'showingthe absorbent material and apertured plate removed therefrom; Fig; 3, a transversesectional View, the section bei-ng taken aslindicatedatline S-SbfFig; 1; Fig. 4, an'enlargedbroken detailsectional view', the section being-taken as indicated atV line dal# of Fig. 1"; and Fig. 5, a greatlyl enlarged sectionalview showing the absorbent material extending into the apertures-of the plate.

I'n the 'illustration given, l!!` designatesafvesselioi' casir'i'g'Y providing@ af* welll- H2 Tlieffvessel or tray member lilv may be formed of plastic; metal, composition materials, glass, or of any1' suitable material. Als'oytller tray and the*aperi'lured 'plate to` be receivedlthereinmay be'v formed of different materials; In the spe'ciollustration given; the tiy provided With;r an inwardlysteppe'd Shoul-` dei" I2; a's shown mere clearlyin 1*"'gsc3`-v'a'ndV 4, 'nie vessel' may te provided upon its lower Side with a depending annular rim l3`on"w1'ichthe rvessel rests. I Y

In the wen-below tue' shoulder i2 isa vbrocs absorbent pad le which mayVr 'beV of. any hsuitable material. Itmay be formedbyaf single iibr'us body which ynts thecontour ofthe wellrorvitfnlay be formed by folding tissue paper sheets such as,

2', for example, Kleenex, so as to t within the well ofthe vessel oitray l0'. The tray structure,` with the plate inserted therein, may be used to support y any liquid-'containing vessel.

An aperturecl plate or grill l5 is placed'ove'r thebru's' member' lrli'and secured in frict'i'onal centaetwith'the walls ofthe tray lill. The 'apertured plate' I5' maybe formed of' anyjsuitable material such as, for example, plastic', ber, inetal, composition materials, etc. I prefer to have thelplateLof resilient! material so; that'it will frictiohalli engage the walls ofthe'tray; It toy lock the brous material it 'therein' whilefat the same tiine'beareadiiy removedrth'erefrom.- The plate iii is provdedwith spaced. ribs .Itl which run cross-wi'sethe'platein. different4 directions. I preferito have th'eribs it tapered. in vertical seetions; as shown more clearly:v in Fig. 5, so that any: water' droplets yon. the bottom of the glass will-not: remain upon-thetop of the plate but willy tend'v to move' downwardly alongV the sides of the ribs it;

I realizefthat the-water droplets on the bottom portion of a. glassare extremelyv tenacious and tend-:toil cling to the glass wall and also to the tep surfaces of the plate l5. In order to meet this tendency, I form the tapered ridges as shown and at:`the same timeattempt to bring the brous material `asffar upwardly between the ribs as possiblefv If lthe 'plate' l5' is formed of resilient materialy sothat the outer ribs of grille I5 bendim wardly upon engagement with the tray Iii, I find thatthis'causes the fibrous pad to bunch between the ribs and to` extend upwardly in arcuate wrinklesfor'ridges l 'Eg asfshown more clearly in Fig. 5. Not 'only' do the 'ridges extend well'upwardly between; the ribs where'they make contact with the water droplets but also the arcuate shape of the portion I'l causes ther water droplets'when disbursed to= ilow quickly towarcl the ribs anduto enter thefbody of the absorbent material below the ribs; v

Inrthe illustration given, and as shown more clearly inFiga/the tray lik-which may be formedy of plastic material, is provided with inwardly-extending bosses i8 alongthe sides thereof. These bosses pressl against the side walls of the resilientplastic plate i5' so as tobend the ribsy t6 thereof inwardly, as illustratedy more clearly in Fig. 1. Thus, the bosses are effective for two purposes.. They. resiliently lock the plate I5 within the tray. Also, the ribs'are moved inwardly over thev surface of the pad by engagement withthe. bosses which tends to wrinkle the Afeesurface' of,l the lOadv and thereby'increase the leiglt of" tne ridge formations ll' between 3 the ribs. This action is especially effective when pad I4 is composed of sheets of tissue, such as Kleenex. The superimposed sheets of soft tissue will cause pad I4 to have a fluffy, supple character. Preferably, the top surface of the pad when composed of sheets of soft tissue will extend at least to or above the top of bosses I8 in its uncomp-ressed condition to facilitate the cooperative action just described. This will permit the upper surface of the pad to be contacted by plate I5 before or simultaneously with the contacting of the plate with the bosses I8. It will be understood that the compression of pad I5, especially when it is composed of soft, fluffy sheets of tissue, will cause wrinkles or ridges to form between ribs I6 when grille I5 is forced downwardly into frictionally locking engagement with bosses IS. This will be true even though pad I varies in thickness, since grille I5 will frictionally loci; with bosses I8 over a range of positions.

I prefer also to equip the corners of the tray I with low supports or studs I9 for supporting the corners of the plate I5, as shown more clearly in Fig. 4.

The center of the plate I is preferably apertured at so as to provide a finger opening for the ready removal of the apertured plate I5 when this is desired.

Operation In the operation of the coaster, the absorbent pad or folded fibrous mat I4 is placed within the bottom of the tray Iii. The resilient plate I5 is then placed into position by placing it downwardly onto the corner supports I9. As the plate I5 is placed downwardly, the bosses I5 of the tray press the central portion of each side wall inwardly so that the ribs bend as shown in Fig. l. This inward movement of the ribs, together with the downward pressure against the plate, causes the arcuate absorbent ridges II to be formed between the ribs, as shown more clearly in Fig. 5. The structure now becomes a substantially unitary structure which may be handled as one piece because the plate I5 is tightly secured within the tray Il and it locks the absorbent material I4 firmly in place.

When a glass is placed upon the coaster and has water droplets formed thereon and running down toward the bottom of the glass, it is found that the tapered ribs I5 render the water droplets very unstable along the bottom of the glass. At the same time, the upwardly-extending ridges I'I of the fibrous material, upon touching any portion of the downwardly-pressed droplets, cause the droplets to quickly disappear and the water thereof iiows towards one edge of the particular ridge Il and disappears within the interior of the absorbent material. There is thus a tendency for the top portion of the fibrous pad to remain relatively dry and to continue to be effective in drawing droplets into the fibrous mat.

After the coaster has been used, it is found that the pad will often dry sufficiently so that it may be reused for many different occasions. When it is desired to change the pad, this may be done by inserting the finger through the finger opening and drawing the central portion of the resilient plate I5 upwardly. The pad may be replaced with a new pad and the plate 'quickly inserted again in its frictionally-locking position.

Not only is the coaster functionally effective for the removal of the water droplets as they form and thus effective in preventing the coaster from sticking to the glass when the glass is raised, but also the structure is extremely attractive in that the fibrous pad or folded fibrous sheet gives the effect of a napkin disposed below the glass. Further, the entire structure, when the spring plate I5 is in position, operates as a single structure and there is no tendency for the parts to become separated during use.

The tray IIJ may be of any desired contour. It may be circular, square, hexagonal, or of any other desired shape. Also, the shape of the spaces in the apertured plate I5 may be modified as desired. However the spaces be varied in shape, and however the ridges be formed, I prefer that such ribs or frame portions which eX- tend upwardly into contact with the glass be tapered or that they provide an extremely narrow upper edge resting in contact with the glass so that there is no tendency for droplets to rest thereon. Such tapered or narrow edges thus provided by the ribs render the droplets unstable and cause them to assume downwardlybulging positions where they tend to engage the absorbent ridges Il. Upon contact with such ridges, the water droplets quickly lose their globular form and flow as liquid into the absorbent body.

While in the foregoing specification I have set forth certain structures in considerable detail for the purpose of illustrating an embodiment of the invention, it will be understood that such details of structure may be varied widely by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

l. A coaster comprising a tray providing a generally rectangular well surrounded by substantially1 straight sides, at least one side of each pair of oppositely-disposed sides being equipped intermediately with a boss projecting from the side into said weil and providing a verticallyextending camming surface on the inner edge thereof, a disposable absorbent body within said well composed of soft sheets of tissue paper lying in stacked parallel relation to the bottom of said well, said body being compressible from its ncrmally expanded condition with the upper surface thereof above the top of said bosses to a position below the top of said bosses, and a resilient rectangular plate dimensioned to be received within said well with the sides thereof bowed inwardly by the camming surfaces of said bosses, said rectangular plate having spacedapart crosswise ribs with crosswise openings therebetween, said plate being frictionally locked within said well with the sides adjacent said bosses pressed inwardly by the camming surfaces of said bosses and the bottoni of said plate compressing said body and forming the top portion of said body into wrinkles between said ribs extending upwardly into said openings.

2. A coaster comprising a tray providing a square well surrounded by substantially straight sides, each of said sides being equipped intermediately with a boss projecting from the side into said well and providing a vertically-extending camming surface on the inner edge thereof, a disposable absorbent body within said well composed of soft Vsheets of tissue paper lying in stacked parallel relation relative to the bottom of said well, said body being compressible from its normally expanded condition with the top surface thereof above the top of said bosses to a position below the top of said bosses, and a resilient square plate dimensioned to be received bosses and with its bottom compressing said body l and forming the top of said body into wrinkles between said ribs extending upwardly into said openings.

3. A coaster comprising a tray providing a generally rectangular well surrounded by substantially straight sides, at least one side of each pair of oppositely-disposed sides being equipped intermediately with at least one boss` projecting from the side into said well and providing a vertically-extending camming surface of the inner edge thereof, a disposable absorbent body within said Well, and a resilient rectangular plate received Within said well above said absorbent body, said rectangular plate having spaced apart crosswise ribs with crosswise openings therebetween and having its sides bowed inwardly by the camming surfaces of said bosses so as to be frictionally locked Within said well.

4. In a coaster, the combination of a tray providing a generally rectangular Well adapted to receive a disposable absorbent body, said well being surrounded by substantially straight sides, at least one side of each pair of oppositely-disposed sides being equipped intermediately with at least one boss projecting from the side into said Well and providing a vertically-extending 6 camming surface on the inner edge thereof, and a resilient rectangular plate received Within said well With the sides thereof bowed inwardly by the camining surface of said bosses, said rectangular plates having spaced-apart crosswise ribs with crosswise openings therebetween and provided centrally with a nger opening for the removal of the plate, said plate being frictionally locked within said well With the sides thereof adjacent said bosses pressed inwardly by the camming surfaces of said bosses.

JANE M. KEEGAN.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 482,603 Weigel Sept. 13, 1892 506,120 Kiel Oct. 3, 1893 980,852 Van Court Jan. 3, 1911 1,862,533 Fish June 14, 1932 1,957,263 Gray May 1, 1934 2,003,895 Martin June 4, 1935 2,118,326 Richardson May 24, 1938 2,496,157 Gaudino Jan. 31, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 18,899 Switzerland Sept. 29, 1899 24,932 Austria July 10, 1906 58,881 Switzerland Mar. 20, 1912 81,276 Germany May 21, 1895 299,659 Great Britain Nov. 1, 1928 542,788 Great Britainv Jan. 27, 1942 792,519 France Oct. 21, 1935 

